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Syria

January 19, 2026

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Syrian government troops stand guard next to a burning tyre along a street of Tabqa, in Raqa province, on the southwestern banks of the Euphrates on Jan. 18, 2026.

Breaking | Last Updated: January 19, 2026, 4:22 am

Bowing to US pressure, Syrian military advances, Kurdish-led SDF agrees to Sharaa's terms

Syrian government forces rapidly retook Raqqa and key eastern territories from the US-backed SDF, prompting a ceasefire agreement that effectively restores Damascus’s control over much of Syria’s oil-rich northeast.

LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: January 16, 2026, 7:48 pm

Syria’s Sharaa declares Kurdish a national language, recognizes Nowruz

Syria's interim president surprised the country's Kurdish citizens with a decree enshrining their culture and language as an "inseparable component of Syria’s unified and diverse national identity."

US special envoy for Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack attends a flag-raising ceremony at the US ambassador's residence in Damascus on May 29, 2025.

Exclusive

US envoy Barrack to meet Kurdish SDF chief Kobane in bid to avoid Syria escalation

The US special envoy to Syria is expected to meet SDF leader Mazlum Kobane in Erbil amid mounting tensions that threaten to unravel a fragile agreement between the Kurdish-led administration and Damascus.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

From Egypt to Lebanon: What’s at stake for regional states on Trump’s visa ban list?

The State Department claimed that citizens from the affected countries are more likely to use social welfare services at a high rate.

Latest News

Syria declares 'closed military zone' east of Aleppo as Kurds protest

Members of the Kurdish forces hold a portrait of Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler which reads "Shame on the killers of innocents in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood" during a protest by Syrian Kurds against violence they say was committed by Syrian government forces during recent clashes in Aleppo's Kurdish neighbourhoods, in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Jan. 13, 2026.

Syria’s Sharaa heads to Davos, ending years of global isolation

President of Syria Ahmed al-Shara arrives for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City. — Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Syria Druze leader Hijri calls for independent entity, says country ‘heading toward partition’

Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri is pictured at Qanawat, the headquarters of the Druze spiritual presidency, on Dec. 28, 2024, in Suwayda, Syria.

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

Kurdish children look through a gate at a pre-school in Qamishli, Syria, March 6, 2019. Picture taken March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah - RC14F6F6D600

Coronavirus, war prompts northeast Syrian schools to go online

The Kurdish-led government in northeast Syria is putting classes online and may continue to use the internet for education beyond the coronavirus.

A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in the rebel-held town of Nairab, Idlib region, Syria April 17, 2020. Picture taken April 17, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC2C8G9K3BBG

Amnesty: Syria, Russia responsible for war crimes in Idlib

Between May 2019 and February 2020, the UK-based rights group recorded 18 attacks on hospitals and schools carried out by Russian and Syrian forces.

Military vehicles of the Libyan internationally recognised government forces head out to the front line from Misrata, Libya February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili - RC24TE96MEQG

Report: Child soldiers deployed to Libya by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army

An exclusive report, citing sources on the ground in Syria and Libya, says Syrian teenagers are being sent to Libya to take part in the civil war there.

A member of Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Khalifa Haftar, points his gun to the image of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hanged on a Turkish military armored vehicle, which LNA said they confiscated during Tripoli clashes, in Benghazi, Libya January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori - RC25PE9CSRRF

Intel: Trump administration singles out Russia’s role in Libya war

The Donald Trump administration stepped up its criticism of Russia’s role in Libya’s civil war on Thursday.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet attends a session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse - RC2Y8F9OMDNZ

Civilian killings in Syria are a ‘ticking time bomb,’ UN commissioner says

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned of a "ticking time bomb" in Syria amid an uptick of civilian attacks and human rights violations.

A fighter of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) holds her weapon as they announce the destruction of Islamic State's control of land in eastern Syria, at al-Omar oil field in Deir Al Zor, Syria March 23, 2019. REUTERS/Rodi Said TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1FE8C72C90

Kurdish and coalition forces target Islamic State in eastern Syria

The operation comes at a time of recent IS attacks in Syria and Iraq.

A member of the Kurdish Internal Security Forces of Asayesh stands guard on a deserted street in Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on April 30, 2020, following measures taken by the Kurdish-led local authorities there, to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey throttles water as pandemic looms over northeast Syria

Western nongovernmental organizations confirm that the water supply from the Alok pumping station has been repeatedly interrupted since the Turkish offensive.

Turkish soldiers stand on top of a tank in the border town of Akcakale in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, October 11, 2019. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RC146E7AC710

Turkey's occupation of northern Syria includes population transfers

Turkey’s transfer of Syrian families to Tell Abyad from Afrin has reignited worries of demographic engineering in northern Syria.

Women walk past a tent in al-Hol camp, Syria, January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic SEARCH "ISLAMIC STATE PRISONERS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. - RC2YYE9CVKHM

Islamic State prison riot underscores fragile security in northeast Syria

The issue of what to do with Islamic State prisoners in northeast Syria continues to be a nagging problem.

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May 1, 2020, shows smoke billowing above buildings in Syria's central city of Homs. - SANA said that the explosions ringing out of a Syrian army position in Homs resulted from a "human error during the transport of some ammunition, which led to human and material losses", while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor relying on sources inside Syria, said Israeli air strikes hit a missile depot belonging

Alleged Israeli strikes target northern, eastern Syria

Iranian militia targets were bombed near Aleppo and in the Deir ez-Zor countryside.

Iranian and Syrian flags flutter on a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Deir al-Zor, Syria September 20, 2017. Picture taken September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC1C8E382200

Iran seems to reconsider military entrenchment in Syria

According to Israeli assessments, Iran has begun giving up on its tremendous military investment in Syria.

Assad’s billionaire cousin denies tax evasion, begs for help in Facebook video

Syrian telecom tycoon Rami Makhlouf has made a rare public statement calling on his cousin President Bashar al-Assad to dismiss charges of tax evasion.